Onyx history. Biography

Onyx- a hardcore hip-hop team from Queens (New York City), formed in 1988 by Fredro Starr, Sonsee and Big DS. A little later, Sticky Fingaz will join them. Gained popularity and became a cult in the 1990s, is a legend of the nineties in hip-hop culture.

Also, the Onyx group is considered one of the founders of hardcore rap.

Established in 1994, Onyx Group is one of the UK's leading technology providers, specializing in data centers, cloud, network services, business continuity a...

Story

The group's producer was the legendary Jam Master Jay (Run D.M.C.), who signed a contract with Def Jam to publish Onyx's first disc. The Onyx album “Bacdafucup” was released under this label in 1993. Due to calls for anarchy, the group's songs were banned from radio broadcast, but the discs sold out anyway. By the end of the first month of sales, the album sold a million copies.

Two years later, in 1995, the world saw the second album “All We Got Iz Us”. He did not repeat the success of the first. And the now deceased left the group Big DS. The composition took the form it has to this day. The most successful single was the song “Last Dayz”. The album sounded just as dark and damp as the first.

For the third album, the guys abandoned JMJ's production and invited several new beatmakers, including DJ Scratch (EPMD). As a result, the 1998 album “Shut "Em Down" was undoubtedly the best of their career. Among the guests were the still young DMX, Big Pun, Noreaga, the debut of 50 Cent, and also members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

In 2000, Sticky Fingaz of Onyx released the album Blacktrash: The Autobiography Of Kirk Jones. The album was oversaturated with guests, hits and had a clear plot concept.

The group then attempted a return. The album “Bacdafacup Part II” (2002) became a pale shadow of previous creations. And “Trigganometry” (2003) is a collection of remixes and old hits.

In 2008, Fredro Starr recorded a song together with the Rostov group “Sand People” and “BTR”. The project was called "Suiside Queens". The song is called “Queens-Rostov”. A story that took place at the end of 2010 is also connected with Rostov-on-Don. The group members, due to financial disagreements with the organizers, created a scandal on the stage of the KSK Express, and, without performing, left the stage.

Main cast members

• Jones Kirk (Sticky Fingaz)
• Fredro Starr
• Tyrone Taylor (Sonsee)
• Fletcher, Marlon (Big DS)

Discography

Videography

Music videos

• I'll Murder You (1992 - not officially released)
• Bacdafucup (1993)
• Da Nex Niguz (1993)
• Throw Ya Gunz (1993)
• Slam (1993)
• Shifftee (1993)
• Last Dayz (1995)
• All We Got Is Us (1995)
• Live Niguz (1995)
• Walk In New York (1995)
• Slam (Bionyx Remix) (feat. Biohazard) (1996)
• Judgment Night (feat. Biohazard) (1996)
• React (feat. Still Livin", X-1 & 50 Cent) (1997)
• Shut" Em Down (feat. DMX) (1998)
• Broke Willies (1999)
• The Worst (feat.

In 1989, Onyx formed in Queens (also called Suicide Queens, due to the numerous suicides in the area), New York. The group's lineup was Fredro Starr, Sonee Seeza (then known as Suave), and Big DS. They were a new revolution in rap music. Onyx did not accept any censorship or criticism towards them. They didn't care about any of this at all. Having grown up in the ghetto, they told true stories from this very life in the ghetto. Their music was as aggressive as their lives.

It all started with Onyx deciding to make several demo recordings for the leader of the group Run D.M.C. Jam Master Jay, but they were hampered by one small problem. During this time, Big DS and Sonee Seeza were in custody. Then Fredro Starr called his cousin named Sticky Fingaz, who then worked in a hair salon. Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr make a demo recording to give to Jam Master Jay. After listening to the Def Jam tape, the first thing Onyx was asked was, "Where's that guy with the deep, irritable voice?" Of course, they meant the cross-eyed, slightly crazy, Sticky Fingas. After which they released their first single on Profile Records, entitled "Ah, And We Do It Like This".

After the release of the single "Throw Ya Gunz" Onyx signed a contract with Def Jam to release an EP (mini album). The single became such a hit that Onyx began recording an album, and in 1993, they presented the entire hip-hop world with an album called "Bacdafucup". Incredible hits like “Slam”, “Throw Ya Gunz”, “Shifftee”, and of course collaboration with the group Biohazard brought Onyx huge success. "Bacdafucup" quickly climbed the hip-hop charts. "Slam" was the fifth single of the year and the album quickly sold two million copies. Onyx were recognized throughout the hip-hop world by winning the "Soul Train" Album of the Year award.

Nothing could stop Onyx in 1993. A rap group that was known for bringing heavy rhymes, metal and hardcore to rap music. They used fast fire rhymes and similar beats, it was no wonder why they blew up the entire hip-hop scene. And Onyx certainly lived up to this terrible image. Sticky Fingaz was arrested for assault. They were banned from performing at a football game. The NAACP considered them a disgrace to black people. Their lyrics and status as one of the heaviest bands of that time are what brought them wild popularity.

Two years later, changes occurred in the group. Big DS was no longer in the group and rumors were that he was either in jail or had left the group. It was two years when Onyx didn't release anything, but the fans were really looking forward to the new album. In 1995 they decided that underground visibility was more important than commercial success, and this was very evident on their 1995 album, All We Got Iz Us. The album sold 500,000 copies, for the average person this was an indicator of a decline in their crazy popularity, but this is for ordinary people, not Onyx. They knew their true listeners, and were considered a golden underground group. Respect was more important than fame. The album was a critical success especially for fans who loved Onyx's new lyrics. Instead of rap groups releasing incomplete albums every six months, Onyx wanted to calm down and concentrate. It was worth it. "All We Got Iz Us" is an underground classic, thanks to the single "Last Dayz" and the wistful video for "All We Got Iz Us."

This time, three years passed before Onyx released anything. Fans have been eagerly awaiting this new release, which is even more stunning than the previous two. But waiting only meant waiting... After the release of "All We Got Iz Us", Onyx's fame rose to another level. Acting skills. Fredro and Sticky started filming films. Having appeared in such films as "Clockers", "Dead Presidents", "Strapped" and "The Addiction".

June 1998, Onyx finally releases their third album, "Shut "Em Down". After many delays and track changes, the album was released to huge underground and commercial success. Major hits appealing to both Anex's underground fans and radio listeners, were "React" and "Shut 'Em Down" recorded with . These tracks were as popular as "Slam" 5 years ago. A true dream for the underground fans of Anex. At the time, hip-hop was Puff Daddy, Mase, and other commercial "emcees" who were flooding the airwaves with their rap, and hardcore hip-hop was not getting airplay. Onyx were a breath of fresh air for the genre.

Now we go straight to 2002. Onyx release the album "Bacdafucup Part II", which is not as successful as its predecessors, but is of good quality.

In 2003, "Triggernometry" was born, which puts everything in its place. It's still the same Onyx, the same hardcore and the same success.

Onyx still live in reality. True hip-hop fans are eagerly waiting to hear what they bring this year, and in the future, and their hopes will be met. Onyx Is Back.

ONYX - Gangsta rap is not for the faint of heart We kindly ask all naive, sensitive and faint of heart readers of the newspaper to leave this article alone. I advise everyone else to get rid of piercing and cutting objects, put on handcuffs, straitjackets, provide protective caps for sockets and protect their relatives from themselves for the entire time they read the material about this group.

From the very beginning, the foul speeches of blacks infringed upon in their legal rights, the gangster mentality and difficult childhood of the members of this New York rap crew awakened the already morbid imagination of young rap fans in both America and Britain. No wonder the style Onyx once defined as hardcore gangsta rap (or porn gangsta rap).

At first there were four of them. The quartet of black -haired guys made up the stiches of Fingaz, Fredro Starr, Suave and Big D. S.), grown in the southern part of the infamous New York quarter Cuins (this southern part is also called South Suicide, Queens" due to the huge number of suicides committed there). And they met in an ordinary hairdresser.

Life in the ghetto was like one nightmare (of course, black and white, rarely gray, but mostly merciless and hopeless), which seemed to last for an eternity. There was one effective means that temporarily pulled our heroes out of the dead loop of everyday life - hip-hop.

RUN–DMC, LL Cool J and the BEASTIE BOYS were damn popular in the late 80s and early 90s, and future members Onyx, like many black teenagers in America, took their songs to heart. All four were about 20 at the time, and they performed their homemade rap in various parks in their area. Any modern teenager will understand why only one of his own - in another block you could, at best, be beaten, or at worst, accidentally take your life. In addition, few people were interested in other people's problems, and the desire to show off in public was perceived as a mockery and was immediately suppressed by the fists of elders. But when marijuana or something stronger appeared in the group, the young people were given first. They got used to it easier and faster and sat on the needle and then became especially cruel and uncontrollable in search of money for the next dose. Future members went through all these terrible withdrawals Onyx and began to make the same aggressive, ruthless rap.

Having recorded one single single “Ahh, And We Do It Like This” (in all likelihood, imitating RUN–DMC and their famous “It’s Like That”) on the “left” label Profile Records, in search of a contract Onyx We turned to RUN–DMC and, as it turned out, we were in the right place. Jam Master Jay believed in their talent and gave them a chance to become famous. At first, the contract with Columbia Records was for the release of one single. It then morphed into the release of an EP (which is longer than a single but shorter than a full-length album), which ultimately culminated in the release of the debut album Onyx"Bacdafucup." And what an album!..

It seemed to many at that time that if rap music would endure another revolution (at least a third, as old fans believed), it would not be soon. But Onyx it was a success so quickly that the number of their fans exceeded a million in the first month after its release. Naturally, the album became multi-platinum, its authors became stars (by the way, the name of their team also has a cosmic connotation).

Overall a brilliant debut album in its own way. Onyx caused the same specific reviews about himself. The authoritative American magazine "The Source", for example, described it as "an extremely internal review of the stupefying ugliness of modern life of the so-called scum of outwardly prosperous American society", and "Billboard" found an even more accurate description of the music Onyx. His reviewer wrote that " Onyx in fact, they don’t just make brutal rap, they seem to vomit with their disdainful burps on the faces of white racists and specifically on the “infringements” of the rights of the black population of America.”

It's no wonder that from the very beginning Onyx found massive support among the black population and music publications and television turned to them in order to please such a tangible army of their readers. At the very dawn of American onyxomania, the group became known to British rap fans. I remember that at their first London concert the fans were so obsessed that they were not yet accustomed to fame. Onyx They were frankly embarrassed, but they performed superbly, and no one in the hall even thought of stopping. There, a real rebellion flared up in defense of the oppressed Nigers of America.

But this rap brigade also had ardent opponents who had been looking for a trick for a long time to officially speak out against such music, and soon found it in the songs Onyx anti-religious elements. In addition, in the early 90s, America was stormed by religious debates between the main political forces, which predetermined confusion in relations within and between faiths and persecution of anti-religious speeches by religious fanatics. For Onyx this resulted in the cancellation of several concerts and even the ritual burning of some of their recordings by church leaders in New Haven.

Negligent careerist politicians, for whom the truth was less important than their election promises, also added fuel to the fire. Many respectable politicians, such as Bob Dole, William Bennett and Dolores Tucker, openly took up arms against rappers, blaming them for almost every existing problem that worries the American public. But to their credit Onyx fought back with much more weighty arguments in defense of the rap commune. Their main slogan was that “during its existence, hip-hop has acquired more supporters and followers than Jesus Christ himself. Therefore, if some assholes want to blame him for all mortal sins and blame him for their own political miscalculations, they will have to compete with everyone who supports this music and these views." These, according to the rappers, will no longer be only blacks, but also whites and other people of color. Because hip-hop is for everyone and it calls for only one revolution - a fair division of rights, responsibilities and freedoms among all people, regardless of skin color. The government and Congress want to avoid solving this problem by any means, and their eternal hesitation for or against only irritates ordinary people.

The titles of the group's early songs promoted the cult of violence, obscenity and exposed their performers as typical gangsta rappers. Just look at “Blac Vagina Finda”, “Throw Ya Gunz” and the thrash rap “Slam”! These same blacks were very proud of themselves when they said that “they smoke weed and get drunk every evening.” At the beginning of his creativity Onyx took it with its simplicity, closeness to the black people, but sometimes a lot came down to primitiveness. They expressed their attitude towards all things with numerous “facts”, and their favorite phrase and at the same time message was: “We are Onyx and we don’t give a flying motherfucking fuck.” A kind of black nihilism.

And only by the second album they learned to express their thoughts in ways quite worthy of masters. Two years have passed since the debut battles and the composition of the team has changed slightly. Big Dee S joined the army, and Suave took a new pseudonym, Sonee Seeza. Second album Onyx"All We Got Iz Us" took the remaining three to new levels of respect for their talent and was undoubtedly a step forward. The rappers produced this album themselves, and in all major indicators it reached the sales level of its predecessor and even surpassed it in terms of meaning. Well, these are the same black stories of the realities of their world, only even more contradictory than before. In "Last Dayz" Sticky Fingaz raps about the line between living a dirty life and attempting suicide. He says that he holds his life by a thread, and fears that there, in hell, they don’t sell drugs, but he would do it because the devil is inside him. "Sad, of course, but true. And an hour later the same Onyx sing the praises of the brave but alive and launch the final anti-suicide anthem “Maintain”.

But I want to believe that the main meaning of the album is in the small composition “All We Got” - rappers talk about the streets where they grew up as one big life collision, where you can’t trust anyone, where you are forced to be strong, otherwise you will be crushed by force. After all, no matter what happens, you need to rely only on yourself. And all they have is themselves! (“All we got out of us!”).

Needless to say, these rappers have become wise, and yet they are in their early 20s, and still have two thirds of their lives to gain their wits and get into trouble (unless, of course, they get slapped on the street). Therefore, the popularity is completely deserved Onyx grew to catastrophic proportions by 1995. They were even placed on the pages of comic books. By the way, the “Fight” comic was developed by the rappers themselves and, in theory, was supposed to ultimately answer the question: “What should a rapper do in New York destroyed by a nuclear disaster?”

ONYX founded their own label, Armee Records, and immediately released the debut disc of the young rap team ALL–CITY, with whom they sang “Ghetto Mentality” on their second album.

All three members Onyx received tempting offers to act in films and in 1995–96 expanded their track record by participating in several medium-budget films. Sticky appeared in the credits of the famous political thriller "Dead Presidents" and, together with Fredro, starred in Spike Lee's film "Clockers" and in the film "Strapped". In addition, in February 1996, Fredro found himself together with Denis DeVito on the set of the basketball blockbuster "Sunset Park".

During these two years, I think they had a great time. In their first interviews in 1998, the trio solemnly announced their imminent return and plans for the future. "The music industry is going nowhere at the moment, which makes Onyx